I find it curious that both Netflix and Amazon Prime seem to have very similar content. I find little to distinguish between the two quite often. How are the licenses granted to these for all the same stuff? Do the studios not care? Is it a case of just as long as they will pay enough they can have what they want?
love2play Messages: 134 Registered: March 2012 Location: GA
Master
I am not sure about the licensing, but I know that a lot of the movies are just free now. For example 90% of the movies on Crackle (a completely free service) are on Netflix and/or Amazon.
I've not previously heard of Crackle, but will look into it. I wonder if it's legal, or whether the licensing that they purchase is paid for perhaps by advertising revenue. I can't see how they would manage it otherwise.
I think that the studios have realized that they have to get with the times and offer more streaming content to survive. As for the licensing of Netflix and Amazon Prime, it is no different than your local video store. They pay a licensing fee that allows them to rent the movie out for profit. It averages to about $60 per movie. You would not expect Blockbuster to carry different movies than Family Video.